Who just started having maid at home w kids without adults?

[thinking]

Dear All


I’m rather worried…need your advise…

[duriz]

Hi thinking,


How old are your children?
Is there anyone in your families who are nearby and can drop-in to supervise?
You may want to read this FYI:

http://singaporemaid.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-to-manage-maid.html

[luvmum]

If this is giving you more worry than peace, you might want to consider either placing them at a good childcare or quit to look after. That happens to me and I choose latter since I've 2 children, one at childcare age, another student care age and I can't find a centre that have both... :?


I know one of my colleague have been leaving her bb to the maid since newborn till now. Her child is now 6 years old. Maid affair, is really 'heng' or 'sway'. I asked her before how she can do that, she replied 'No choice, just open one eye and close one eye so long as the bb is safe end of the day'. Not everyone can do it, need to assess on individual's comfort level though. :spank:

[mrswongtuition]

We used CCTV to monitor. Comes with Internet viewing so can check when we are in office.

We hv no choice due to odd work hours.

[thinking]

Hi Mrs Wong


How much does a CCTV cost? How does it work?Do you let your maid know that u have CCTV?
My boys are in lower primary. And I’m getting ready to go back to working life…

[duriz]

thinking:

Hi Mrs Wong


How much does a CCTV cost? How does it work?Do you let your maid know that u have CCTV?
My boys are in lower primary. And I'm getting ready to go back to working life....

Hi thinking,

read these few brief exchanges about cctv:

http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=903&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=3180

Hope it's useful for you. Good luck with your helper.

[mummyjoyce]

My DDs were at home with maid since they are P4. There are Sec1 and P6 now.

However my DH and myself contantly conduct spot checks by going home without calling to see what is they are doing.
So fair so good even after changing maid last year.

[atrecord]

To me, this is something of a big risk, which I’ll not take. Most maids appear harmless and mild initially, as they must prove themselves - else runs risks of being sent back.


But they are all humans, so a good number of them will try to find ways to look for short-cuts, take breaks, do things that will benefit themselves, etc. when they are not supposed to. This is made more likely when there is no adult supervising them.

Of course there are really good ones that are dedicated and honest, but the odds of getting one that isn’t, is not low.

And the worse thing is that sometimes, one mistake is too many…

Of course, if really cannont make it, then no choice lor.

[mrswongtuition]

thinking:

Hi Mrs Wong


How much does a CCTV cost? How does it work?Do you let your maid know that u have CCTV?
My boys are in lower primary. And I'm getting ready to go back to working life....

There are many different types and price depends on what you want.

You can get cheap internet cameras which work with your wireless internet system at home for viewing from office but downside is there's no recording unless you record on your computer (need to leave it on). Price range from $200 - 600 per camera. Recommended brand: D-Link.

Or you can get those proper CCTV with recording function. Cheap sets from China can cost around $600 (with 2 camera and installation). From Korea it's more reliable but slightly more expensive. My hubs is selling these machines so we know which are good and which are not These might require some cable works, depending on where you want to install them.
You can choose pure recording only or you can choose those with internet viewing (newest model is iPhone compatible). Mostly go by motion sensor (only record when motion detected).

I do not let the maids know that there's CCTV. The CCTV was in 3 main areas: Kitchen, Living/Dining Room, Bedroom (my son's - mine's locked). We did remind them NOT to change in the bedroom. Only can change in the toilet.

My current maid is very good, so we installed it to watch the main door only.
My previous maid, the CCTV caught her stealing food & money. & she accused us of abuse when we sent her back to agency (she ran off with help from other maids to go to embassy). Embassy called us to investigate and we had ready proof - CCTV footage of her wrong doings & footage of normal daily life at home.

I have friends who install and they switch it off once they are home for privacy. It's up to you. I'm too lazy to do that so we leave it running 24/7.

[thinking]

Hi Mrs Wong and Mummy Joyce


Are your maid Indo or Phi?